It was the first night in over 40 years that his exotic animals were gone from the Stony Ridge shelter.

Wednesday, Ohio Department of Agriculture officials removed six tigers, a lion, black leopard, liger, bobcat and Kodiak bear that Hetrick’s family said was in hibernation when the ODA officials arrived. A wolf hybrid was allowed to remain on the property because that species is not applicable to state law.

Wood County Sheriff Mark Washylyshyn said a search warrant and seizure warrant was executed earlier that morning giving the ODA access to the Tiger Ridge property. During the day, Hetrick watched on security cameras from inside his home and did not make an effort to intervene.

Oregon’s Recreation and Parks Committee will hold a meeting on February 9 at 7 p.m. in council chambers at the Oregon Municipal Building on Seaman Road to discuss senior services at the new senior center.

The meeting will “explain and review the plans for the new senior center facility,” Councilman Terry Reeves, chairman of the committee, said at a council meeting on Monday.

“Hopefully, we can get the message out and get our seniors in here who are calling, wanting to know when we’re going to get started, if we have the logistics done,” said Reeves.

The city bought a 13,500-square-foot building at 4350 Navarre Avenue for a centrally located senior center for residents. Although the building is in good shape, some upgrades were needed, including the installation of a kitchen to serve meals to seniors.

Revenue from a 0.5-mill five-year senior levy, which generates $210,000 to the city annually, will fund expanded services at the center.

Two area auto dealerships are undergoing extensive improvements to their facilities.

At Mathews Ford in Oregon, management has been planning a groundbreaking for a new body shop which will enable the dealership to service the latest innovations in the automaker’s product line, including the new F-150 pickup truck – a best seller for Ford.

The 2015 model features an aluminum body that reduces the vehicle’s weight by about 700 pounds.

“When we were talking about how to proceed with a new body shop, instead of just renovating and trying to adjust our old shop, we decided to build a new state-of-the-art body shop that’s going to be able to adapt to paint and repair this all new F-150. There are going to be other aluminum vehicles coming on line as well,” said Brian Shephard, sales manager.

The F-150 was chosen for the 2015 North American Truck/Utility of the Year award at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last month.

Ford offered dealerships with body shops discounts on the estimated $30,000 to $50,000 in special equipment and training for the new F-150, Paul Massie, Ford collision marketing manager, told AutoWeek last year.

The Ohio Environmental Council is praising state legislators for re-introducing a bill that attempts to stem the flow of phosphorus and other nutrients that feed the toxic algal blooms in the western basin of Lake Erie.

However, Jack Shaner, the council’s deputy director, said the bill needs to include several features to be effective, including:

• A ban on the application of fertilizer and livestock manure to frozen and snow-covered ground in the western basin.

• A ban on open lake disposal of sediments dredged from ports and harbors in the lake or its tributaries as well as regular monitoring and reporting of phosphorus levels by large, public water treatment systems.

Shaner said with those requirements, the bill is “just the sort of medicine that Lake Erie and our inland lakes need for the toxic algae menace…”

He said a 2012 report by the Ohio Department of Agriculture includes recommendations to not spread fertilizer on frozen or snow-covered fields.

Residents of the Genoa School District plan to conduct more of a grass roots campaign to promote a levy request that will be on the May ballot.

Members of a committee formed recently to push for the passage of an emergency levy on the May 5 ballot say the additional revenues are needed to maintain quality curriculum programs.

If passed, the levy will generate $1.025 million annually in operating revenues and be in effect for five years.

Voters rejected levies twice last year.

The committee has scheduled another meeting for Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. in the middle school cafeteria, according to Bill Nye, district treasurer.

Nye outlined the district’s financial situation during the committee’s first meeting on Jan. 22, informing members the district has realized a drop in revenues from various sources over the past several years.

Personal tangible property taxes – levied on businesses inventories and equipment – yielded about $615,000 a year for the district before changes in state law took effect and the economy took a downturn, Nye said.